Part 1. Clearly, we, as a people, are in the midst of a deep social crisis, one not only in terms of the conditions of our community, but also in the context of this country. Indeed, at the heart of our crisis is the crisis in America marked by: its steady degeneration into conditions of sustained and self-justifying violence against the vulnerable, at home and around the world; its immoral and radically evil monopoly by a racial and class elite of wealth and power; its attempt to privatize and extract profit from every inch of public, personal and natural space; and its willingness to kill, torture, overturn countries and destroy the environment and world to do so. Also, there are the dominant society’s psychological insecurities and issues about everything from its safety to its sexuality; and its increased and open declarations and demonstrations of love for its dogs. And there is also the issue of delayed and impending economic collapse, propped up and papered over with new names for depression and system of failure, and unannounced loans on state and federal levels from people and countries it once conquered, colonized and caricatured. ... read more »

A 1947 report, “The Problem of Violence: Observations on Race Conflict in Los Angeles,” by the American Council on Race Relations and the Haynes Foundation, focuses on racial tensions two decades before the 1965 Watts Revolt. “The Council and Foundation did not seek research and analysis so much as guidance, a way of thinking about the problem which offered some hope and genuinely useful application." Three neighborhoods with racial tension were chosen for observation—Watts, West Jefferson and Hollenbeck. Observations on Watts shed most light on factors culminating in the rebellion. Excerpts follow. ... read more »

Second in a series for the 50th Anniversary Nguzo Saba 2015 Conference (September 24-27), celebrating the founding of our organization Us and the introduction of the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) and Kawaida philosophy. The following are excerpts from a 1973 article titled “A Strategy for Struggle: Turning Weakness into Strength” which I published in the Black Scholar during my political imprisonment on trumped up charges and subsequently published in my book titled Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis in 1978 by Kawaida Publications. A new 50th anniversary edition will be published by the University of Sankore Press and be available at the conference ... read more »

Two recent articles by white columnists deal with the potential loss of African American political representation. (This extremely important issue has yet to be publicly addressed by Black politicians themselves.) Alan Clayton’s article, “Protect African American Representation in LA County,” (Daily Breeze, 7/12/15), argues expanding the five-member LA county board of supervisors to seven would maintain current African American representation. Bill Boyarsky’s , “African American Political Currents in LA (L A Observed,(07/08/15), concurs. (Hopefully, Black elected officials will take the lead in maintaining African American representation.) Excerpts from both articles follow. ... read more »

It is important to assert at the outset, in the interest of seriously needed distinctions, that a single symbolic act of taking down a confederate flag is not the same as or a substitute for tearing down the walls of White supremacy for which it stands. Taking down the confederate flag, like the Obama election, clearly has its symbolic value, and also like the Obama election, it can give us a rightful sense of satisfaction and victory, and then leave us with little else. For the moment did not lead to building a movement, and the single act assumed a separate meaning in and of itself. The election became, like the removal of the flag could become, the end rather than a means to further and complete the long and costly struggle for racial and social justice. ... read more »

Recently released documentation of Bill Cosby admitting having drugged women in order to have sex with them, and the ever-growing list of women he allegedly sexually assaulted, are only part of his mixed legacy. Unfortunately, that legacy will also include his relentless denigration of Black youth, especially those in the inner city, that began years before the rash of allegations of sexual abuse against him. ... read more »

As the 50th Anniversary Nguzo Saba 2015 Conference approaches (September 25-27), celebrating the founding of our organization Us and the introduction of the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) and Kawaida philosophy, ... read more »

The rash of murders of young Black men by the police, starting with Trayvon Martin generated concern and enough outrage to launch Black Lives Matter: Then the massacre of Bible study members in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, ... read more »

On their Website, the Sons of Confederate Veterans describe themselves as preserving the “history and legacy” of the Confederacy. Their organization, they say, is “dedicated to ensuring that “a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved.” I would suggest, instead, that the Sons of Confederate Veterans is guilty of rewriting history instead of preserving it. ... read more »

There’s a lesson to be learned from the Confederate flag quickly and unexpectedly falling into disfavor following the murder of nine Bible-studying African Americans, including the pastor, at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. The lesson is that the economic clout of African Americans and their progressive allies can be used to pressure businesses to do the right thing, which in turn can keep the far right wing in check. ... read more »

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMENTARY
By Hazel Trice Edney
As President Obama moves to implement policies that his administration says will reduce smog levels, he is facing a backlash in the urban and largely Black communities that are at the core of his political base and key to the Democratic Party’s success in next year’s elections. ... read more »

Public education has failed Black students. Tragically, by virtually any measure, they are behind practically all other groups, including immigrant Latino students who have been in the U.S. ... read more »